Fixing Time
by Fudgecicles
Summary: Voldemort was defeated, and everything was going well. But Voldemort had a backup plan. Now everything has changed, and Luna Lovegood has to go back and fix time in order to save the world from darkness.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, what's up everyone? First off, to all those who have been reading Wave, I am uncertain as to when the next chapter will be up. The computer I've been writing it on is being stupid, so work on it is at a standstill at the moment. I was so close to finishing the next chapter too...When I manage to get my hands on the story again I'll start posting again, but until then you've got this story! This is actually a story that I started on Harry Potter Fan Fiction, but ended up becoming discouraged because of lack of response and quit writing. However, I've already received a great response for my other stories, so I'm hoping it'll pick this one up and keep it running.**

Prologue: A New World

The boy appeared suddenly, out of thin air, right in front of the tree. He quickly scanned the crowd, searching. Searching. There, sitting by that tree over there. He quickly skirted the clumps of students, making his way towards the skinny boy.

"Hey," he hissed when he was right behind the youth. Snape jerked around, scrambling as if to stand up. The boy jumped forward and tugged Snape back down.

"Stay low and listen to me!" he hissed in Snape's ear. "I can help you get your girl. But you have to trust me!"

Snape looked wary, but finally nodded. The boy smiled, he could do this. It might take him a while, but he had faith in himself. After all, if the dark lord believed he could do this, who was he to argue?

~Fixing Time~

Luna sighed. She really didn't want to be here. But she couldn't bear to hurt him by not showing. It would have been to cruel. Another sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned her head back to stare up at the clouds. She knew she should be happy, it was Harry's wedding and all, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew that he of all people deserved to be happy; he had defeated Voldemort, after all. But she wanted to be the one in the wedding gown, she wanted Harry for herself. She had for quite some time now. If only...

"What are you doing out here all alone?"

Luna jumped, and whirled back to look at the doors of the church building. Walking towards her was none other than the groom himself. She felt her stomach leap at the sight of him, as it had so many other times. Her eyes traveled to his. They were so beautiful. It took her a second to realize that she hadn't answered his question.

"Just needed some air." she stated, a blush starting to creep up her cheeks. "Why are _you _out here?"

"Same reason," Harry laughed. "I'm not much of the type of person to love being crowed around I guess." he shrugged. He walked over and leaned against the tree next to her, and tilted his head back. "Nice day though, isn't it?" He asked. Luna nodded, and turned her head back to the sky also.

"It's beautiful," she whispered. They stood in silence like that for a while. Just staring up at the sky, watching as the clouds floated by. She was cherishing this moment, this being alone with him, without his friends distracting him. She loved his presence, the feel of him there just warmed up her heart. She could live in this moment forever. She turned her head to look at him, and suddenly the world swirled. She staggered, hands clasping her head, dropping to her knees as the world meshed together.

"Luna? Luna?" Harry's worried voice wafted to her as though from a long distance. She felt a scream rip through her throat as she collapsed on the ground. She started writhing, trying to drive the pain from her head, even as the world seemed to slip through her grasp.

"Luna? Luna!" and everything went black.

Next thing she knew someone was shaking her and telling her to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she was greeted by a brand new world.

**A/N: It's obscenely short, I know, but the next chapter will be longer and should be up soon. So, tell me what you think!**


	2. Different World

**A/N: And here is chapter one! This had actually originally been three separate chapters, but there was really no reason to keep them apart, so I combined them.**

Disclaimer: i do not, no matter how much I want to, own any characters you recognize from harry potter. They belong to j. k. rolling.

Chapter 1: Different World

"Harry?" Luna whispered.

The figure above her blinked. "Who's Harry?"

Luna frowned. "He's-"

"Never mind, not important. It's me, James. Now get up. We got hunters."

_Hunters!_The very word sent shivers down her spine. Her mind jumped into auto pilot and she scrambled from her bed, snatched her wand and followed James through her tent flap. The entire campsite was in a frenzy as people ran in and out of tents, waking others and sprinting to their assigned places. Luna turned and scurried after the loping figure of James. It took them less than a minute to reach the tall, black pole, their position of defense. A second later they were joined Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, both with wands out and faces grim.

"Callidry saw them, about a mile west. Be here soon." Sirius murmured to them as he came and stood beside them. Their heads swiveled, searching the darkness around them for any sign of movement. They stood like that for a couple of minutes, in silence, every fiber in their being stretching, searching for a sign of Voldemort's police force.

It was then that another Luna crept into her head, up beside the warrior, and brought with it the reality of this scene. James, Sirius, Remus, and Voldemort were all dead, and there was no such thing as hunters...was there? Suddenly she wasn't sure. She had a vivid image of Sirius falling threw a veil, but she also remembered him teaching her the stunning spell. It was as if she had been through two completely different lives.

"There!" Luna jerked back to reality, pushed aside her confusion so that she could focus on more important things, and swung her head the way Remus had pointed. Sure enough, several forms were making their way towards the defenders from across a field that stretched from the campsite. As they approached, the light from the watch fires hit them, showing black cloaks with the dark mark embroidered green on the left breast of each. Hunters all right. Death eaters charged with one task, searching down renegade bands, like this one, and bringing them to Voldemort's heel anyway necessary. Beside her, she heard James suck in a breath, and in a second she knew what had caused it. Among the mass of enemy magic folk, there was one with red hair. Luna shook her head. Them again. You'd think that after being defeated at least five times they would give up, but they always came back. Luna's group was taking a toll, though. They didn't have any reinforcements like the hunters did. But either way, this wasn't good. James refused to hurt her in any way; even though she had fallen so far, he still loved her.

"You may as well not ask, you know what the answer is!" Sirius called.

"As you wish!" came a snide voice from the front most hunter, and next second a wand was up and there was burst of green light, which Sirius ducked easily. Next instant everything was in chaos. Sirius had started shooting his own spells, and soon he and the hunter had begun a fast paced duel, spells streaming out of their wands and bouncing everywhere around them. But that wasn't all. James had also leaped forward and tried to stun Lily, and she retaliated quickly. Remus had jumped to the side to avoid one of Sirius's reflected spells, and had moved to engage the remaining hunters. Luna moved to help him. Immediately, a hunter jumped forward, wand raising, but Luna was too quick for him.

"Memeriate!" she called, and a flash of pink light later the hunter keeled backward and crumpled to the ground. Immediately two took his place, both firing spells at the same time. Luna rolled to the right, and came up with a silver light shooting out of her wand. It smashed into one, turning them instantly to dust. She ducked a flash of green, and turned her wand on the caster, who was hit with red. She blinked, and turned. Sounds of their battle must have reached into the camp, because more refugees were running down to join them.

Luna gasped as a flash of purple flew across her arm, slashing open the skin and letting blood trickle out. Mad at herself for not paying attention, she whirled in time to see another flash of purple. She tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. Her cheek flared, and she felt blood trailing down her face. She raised her wand, only to have it fly out of her hand and land back near James and his dueling partner. Next second purple lights were streaming at her, and she felt numerous cuts appear on her legs, arms, and her sides. She tried to run, but all that happened was that she stumbled and fell to the ground. She felt her back rip open, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move. Was this how she died?

The answer came quickly, as she felt her body leave the ground and soar threw the air before landing gently on the ground again. She felt her back knitting together, and then she was gently rolled over and she felt the rest of her cuts healing. She tried to relax, she wouldn't be much good in a battle right now, but the sounds of fighting kept intruding and tensing her up.

_Relax Luna. Relax. Close your mind. Ignore it. Ignore it. That's good, just keep this up..._

~Fixing Time~

James shook his head. How she was able to sleep through all that noise, he didn't understand. She didn't even twitch when the ground not three feet away exploded. He threaded his way through fallen hunters. Some were dead, that was always unavoidable in a confrontation, both sides always had a least one death, but he bet more than a few were just knocked out. Luna would have work to do when she awoke. As a mindbreaker, it was her job to retrieve any information available in a hunter's mind, and then wipe that mind blank.

James stopped, and looked at Frank questionably. At Frank's nod, he sat down be side him.

"It is still hard to believe, even after all these years. They were so good, why did they change so suddenly?" Frank whispered. James could hear the pain in his voice, and didn't blame him. His heart was in pain right now also. And they had reasons to be too. Lily and Alice, best friends, Gryfindors, wonderful people, the loves of James and Frank. But now they were hunters. And Lily was with Snape. The thought made James blood boil.

"Snape had something to do with it. I don't know how he wriggled into her heart, but he did. This is all his fault." His voice came out cold and hard, with a keen edge of anger and hate. Frank nodded sadly and looked across the now empty, dark, unmoving field. His sudden jump startled James so much that he actually fell over onto his side and had to roll over in order to look at Frank, who was straining as though to see something in the darkness.

"Someone is out there!" Frank hissed, causing James to scramble to his feet and look where Frank was pointing. Sure enough, someone was walking towards them. Someone tall and stately. When he stepped into the firelight, James saw that he had bright blue eyes.

~Fixing Time~

Her mind woke slowly. First was the knowledge that she was, in fact, waking. Then warmth spread down her spine, into her arms and legs, as her nerves revived. No pain. Soft bedding underneath her hands marked her sense of touch reviving. Right hand twitched as her muscles awoke. Whispering marked her hearing returning. She blinked, tent above. Opening her eyes and leaving them that way, she moved her head and surveyed her surroundings. The sight was familiar, but she couldn't quite retrieve why. She swept the two people standing in the corner with her eyes. They were the source of the whispering. So what had happened? Nothing around her gave her a clue, and the part of her brain containing her memories was being extremely sluggish. Closing her eyes, she focused inward until she could sense her brain. Working her way into the deepest areas of her brain that held her memories was a little complicated, but she was able to work through it quickly. Soon she had reached the required spot and activated her last memory. The battle. Yes. There had been a battle, and she had been hurt. OK. Farther back. What happened before the battle? And then her mind exploded with memories.

Her entire life was replaying through her mind. She remembered growing up in her house, watching her mother's experiments, the day her mother died, her Hogwarts years, and Harry's marriage. It was then that something weird happened. Everything that had just gone through her mind was suddenly crushed and shoved to the side as other memories took the front. Memories of a different life, and yet somehow still her memories. She remembered dark figures walking up the drive, her parent's panicking, scrambling around the house to gather a few items, then grabbing her, running out the back door into the cold night, sprinting past the garden, and disappearing with angry shouts from behind them ringing in their ears. The year on the move, just the three of them, before her mother got sick and died, before Sirius had found them, brought them to the refugee camp. The years growing upon the run, learning how to fight since she turned five, her father learning how to better probe the human mind and teaching it too her, then dying in a raid a few years later. She remembered a whole new life, one of pain and grief, and yet also the other life, the one mostly of happiness, of protection.

The two different stories her memories told her had her so confused that Luna didn't realize someone was beside her until they touched her shoulder. She jerked into a sitting position, her eyes snapped open, and she whirled to find her wand, before seeing that it was just Callidry.

"So you've finally woken up, huh? Good. I was starting to get a little worried. You usually recover faster...anyway, I brought you some food." Callidry whispered, turning and lifting a steaming bowl. "How are you feeling?"

Luna shrugged, already entranced by the bowl of food. She hadn't realized it before, but her stomach felt as though it was eating itself inside out.

"How long have I been out?" She asked, taking the bowl in her lap and immediately spooning as much as possible into her mouth.

"Quite a while. I'd say around five hours." Callidry answered over her shoulder, as she moved around the tent, cleaning up empty dishes and straitening bed sheets. "Everyone else wounded in the raid has already left." She then moved back to Luna, checked the medical instruments, then examined Luna.

"Well, you seem able to leave when you've finished that, which is a good thing. James wants you in the meeting tent once your done. We have a visitor who wants to talk to you."

Luna froze, hand halfway to her mouth. "A visitor? Who?"

"Don't know. Hurry up. James made it seem quite important, so I wouldn't keep him waiting too long." Callidry turned, a basket of dirty clothes and medical bandages under her arm, and left the tent.

Luna blinked. Visitor? Since when did they pick up visitors? She couldn't remember the last time they had visitors, since the refugees tended to try to avoid people as much as possible. Voldemort had most people under his control, willingly or not.

Shrugging aside her puzzlement, Luna hastily finished off her food.

~Fixing Time~

A few minutes later saw Luna making her way through the unruly group of tents. She stopped in front of the biggest for a second, took a deep breath, pushed back the flap, and walked in. She stopped mid-step when she saw who was standing in the middle of the tent, and whom had just turned to see who it was that had entered. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she took in the tall, stately figure with long, almost white, gray hair. Dumbledore!? But he died! Even in this life! She could remember when the news hit the world. It was then that the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered together to create the roaming band of refugees.

"You must be Luna." Dumbledore murmured, peering at her with his extremely bright eyes. Luna blinked, his voice...and then it hit her. The man before her wasn't Albus Dumbledore, his hair wasn't white enough.

"Aberforth?" She asked, causing the others in the room to blink.

"You know who I am?" Aberforth queried, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Y...yes." She frowned and looked around the room. James, Sirius, and Lupin where all sitting in a group to the right, staring at her in surprise. To the left, McGanagall, Moody, and the other leaders of the refugee band had their heads together, whispering and shooting quick looks at her.

"May I ask how? I do not remember ever meeting you." Aberforth spoke quietly, with a measured voice, as if he was trying to figure something out without asking directly. "And I'm pretty sure I've done a good job on staying below the radar, so you shouldn't be able to know me by reputation."

"Well...um..." Luna muttered, dropping her eyes and trying to think quickly of something she could say that wouldn't make everyone think she was crazy.

"Feel free to tell me. I will not judge you by what you say." Aberforth interrupted her thoughts, causing her to blink, look up, and blurt:

"I knew you from somewhere else, a different world." She flushed as everyone quirked an eyebrow at her. "It's true." She muttered.

"May I ask what type of world this was?" Aberforth queried. Luna stared at him for a few seconds, trying to tell if he was making fun of her or not. Not being able to tell for certain, she decided that she may as well tell. Not like it would do much more damage anyway.

"It was a safe world, one where You-Know-Who was defeated." hearing this, everyone in the room scoffed. She heard a few whispers about 'wishful thinking' and bowing her head in shame. "It's true." She muttered again.

"I believe you." Aberforth stated, bringing her head snapping back up in surprise. He was the only one looking at her as if she was sane. In fact, he seemed rather pleased.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius loudly interrupted. "That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. How can you just believe that so easily?"

Aberforth glanced at him, and answered, "Because my brother believed in such a world. If you let me ask a few more questions, I will explain."

Sirius grunted and sat back, motioning for Aberforth to continue.

"You said you knew me from a different world, one where Voldemort had been defeated, correct?" Aberforth questioned, turning back to Luna. "May I ask how that came to be?"

"Harry Potter killed him." Luna answered, looking away from Aberforth's intense gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she notice James sit up straighter.

"And who is Harry Potter?"

"The son of James Potter and Lily Evans." Shock ran through the listeners, but Aberforth just nodded.

"Just as Albus thought." He murmured. Luna blinked, then opened her mouth to ask a question, but stopped when Aberforth held up his hand. "It is time for me to explain." He turned and walked over to a small bag. He removed a small jar from it, and stood rubbing it between his hands for a few minutes, before turning back to them and continuing.

"Half way through the Marauders sixth year at Hogwarts, a teenage boy named Ezkiah Frant was found wandering the grounds. He claimed to be an orphan and to have stumbled upon Hogwarts on accident. Albus decided to let the boy stay at the school as he searched for any sign of living relatives. When none were found, he decided to let Frant stay as a student, so he was enrolled as a sixth year Slytherin. He made quick friends with Severus Snape, and somehow was able to assist Snape in winning Lily Evans heart. Albus didn't think much about it at the time, but as time progressed and both Snape and Evans joined the Death Eater ranks, he knew something had gone wrong. He never was able to explain it in a way that I could understand, but he somehow knew that Evans was never supposed to become a Death Eater.

"After he realized this, he thought back to Ezkiah Frant and where he had come from. He searched everywhere, but no trace of the boy's existence could be found. The strange thing was, he was able to find records of the people Frant claimed to be his parents. They were not only both alive, but were still too young to be having children. He never explained how, but it was then that Albus realized Frant had come from the future. A future where something was different. And so he prepared a way for someone to go back and stop Frant from succeeding."

James jumped up as soon as Aberforth finished speaking. "I knew there was something wrong with him." He snarled. He stepped out from among the others and asked, "So how does Dumbledore's plan work? How do I go back?"

Aberforth look at him pityingly. "I'm sorry James, but you can't go back."

"WHAT?" James yelped, "You just said..."

"I said my brother prepared a way for someone to go back and stop Frant. That someone is not you. Now, please sit down so I can finish." James blinked at Aberforth's response, then returned to his seat, look rather deflated.

"May I ask what all this has to do with me?" Luna asked quietly.

"Albus always said that time could not be changed on too grand a scale without something from the original time line remaining. Somehow he knew this something was you, though he did not know your name. He said that the person who was to fix this mess would remember what life was supposed to be . That is how I knew it was you I was looking for Luna. Your the one that is going to go back and set the world on the right path."

Luna's head jerked up. "_I'm_the one that's supposed to fix this? But why? Why not James? After all, James is the one that wants Lily!"

"Yes, it is true that James has something to gain from it, but you have more. James would only be thinking about Lily. You would be thinking about the world you knew, the people you knew. You know how history is supposed to go, so only you can get it to go back on that track. Trust me Luna Lovegood, you are the one who has to fix time." Aberforth answered in a firm voice. He walked over until he was standing right in front of Luna, and held out the bottle of green liquid to her. "This is the potion Albus made for you. I know you have doubts, but just think of everything you love about the other world."

Luna hung her head, thinking. Thinking of her parents, thinking of her friends, but most of all thinking of Harry. She might never have a chance with him, but he was important. Not just to her, but to the whole world. "How does this potion work?" she finally asked.

"I have no clue. Not even Albus knew exactly what it would do." _Great, so I'm supposed to take a potion that no one has any clue as to what it will do? What if it doesn't work? What if it's poison? If I die, would Harry be in heaven, even though currently he hasn't lived? But what if it works? I would be able to see Harry again..._

Luna raised her head, and looked at the potion Aberforth was holding out to her. Sudden heartache panged in her chest. The potion was the same emerald green as Harry's eyes. _Harry..._. Slowly she lifted her hand up, and Aberforth placed the potion in it. She pulled the stopper out, took a deep breathe, and drank it.

Nothing happened.

She waited about five minutes, but still nothing.

Slowly, Luna looked at Aberforth. "I guess it didn't work. I don't feel anythi-" She suddenly doubled over, clutching her stomach. It felt like she was on fire, and the feeling spread from her stomach, until it covered her entire body. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the fire was gone.

She blinked when she realized no one around her had moved an inch since she had taken the potion. She straightened and walked over to Aberforth and waved her hand in front of his face. Nothing. Frozen. Frozen in time. _Well, looks like the potion did something at least. But, how is this going to help anything?_

Luna looked around the entire room, but no inspiration came to her. What was she supposed to do? Slowly, warmth crept back into the back of her head, and she realized the potion wasn't through with her._ At least it's not as hot this time..._ Suddenly, she felt herself rising. She look up in surprise, but just saw the top of the tent. She blinked as she felt herself accelerate, and watched as the top came towards her, but for some reason she felt no fear. She had complete trust in the potion, and sure enough she didn't hit the tent, but instead went zooming through it. Straight into darkness. Again.

**A/N: Still kinda short, but it was everything that took place before her actually been in the past, so...yeah.**

**So while I was writing this, I had an interesting occurrence with Voldemort. I had his name in the document, and obviously the spell check didn't realize it. When I went to add it to the dictionary for the word document, I glanced at the suggested word list, and what should I see but democrat? Totally cracked me up, especially since it's not even close to the spelling. Word documents these days. 8D**

**Anyway, please leave a review!**


	3. The First Day

**A/N: I'm back! Finally! you know, i honestly thought that i had already updated this story...it wasn't until i told my sister about it that i found out otherwise. So, to all you lovely readers who have been waiting for this chapter, i am deeply sorry. But enough of that. Read on!**

Chapter 2: First Day

It only took a couple of moments for the darkness to begin receding. The actual process, however, took a bit longer, as first the area around her gathered light, and then the light began adjusting itself so that her surroundings came into focus. The length of time this took was perfect, since she was able to observe her surroundings for a while before everything came into clear focus and she was actually physically there, instead of just mentally, magically, or whatever the heck it was.

The place where Luna was appearing - or was she materializing? - was somewhere Harry had visited on several occasions, namely Dumbledore's office. Though she had heard Harry speak about the office a few times, Luna was still impressed by the amount of strange silver objects that were in various places around the room. In fact, it was do to her fascination with the mysterious constructs that she only realized that Dumbledore himself was sitting behind his desk - frozen for the moment - mere seconds before focus came and time caught up to the old professor.

To say that Albus was shocked when the young blond girl suddenly appeared a few feet in front of his desk would be a vast understatement. The poor wizard had just popped another lemon drop into his mouth, and when he saw her appear the candy was immediately pushed down his throat by the sudden rush of wind created by his rather uncharacteristic gasp. Of course, the lemon drop being new and perfectly solid, the candy got stuck in his throat, causing him to choke, and so greatly was he frazzled that he didn't even think to charm it out.

Luna, on the other hand, was a little amused, and a bit proud, to be one of the few people to have ever seen Albus Dumbledore get his words caught in his throat, and was even more proud of the fact that she was the person to have caused it. After all, it was rare that anyone would see any break in the great man's composure at all, much less such a complete lack of dignity. Chuckling to herself, Luna pulled out her wand and pointed it at the Headmaster's throat, and immediately the lemon drop popped out, causing Dumbledore to cough quite violently at the sudden removal.

"A bit surprised, are we?" Luna asked, a smile spread across her face. "I never would have thought that the great Professor Dumbledore would be surprised by anything."

That, of course, caused him to gather himself together as fast and as well as he could. However, before Albus could completely gather his wits and gain control of the situation, Luna neatly stepped in and plucked it so far out of his grasp that he would never be able to retrieve it throughout the entire conversation.

"I suppose you are wondering who I am, how I got in here, and what I want." she said with a sweet smile. "My name is Luna Lovegood, how I got here is unimportant and currently none of your business, and I need to be able to enter this school as a seventh year Gryffindor so that I can conduct... certain investigations."

"Investigations? What-"

"Yes, investigations." Luna cut him off quickly. She was a little uncomfortable talking this way, but figured that the less Dumbledore knew the better. At this point, at least. She had no clue if he would believe her, and couldn't risk having him shut her down before she could get started. "I am trying to find someone, and I am certain they are here. So I need you to make it official that I will be going to this school. Write a document or something, whatever it takes." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, looking so calm and unconcerned that Luna started tapping her foot.

"Why would your investigations-" he started to ask in a calm voice, before once again being cut off.

"This is not the time for an interrogation! I have other things to do, so hurry up and make it official, and if you want I'll explain a few things sometime after school starts. Just know that I won't tell you everything, and I will not take veritiserum." When Dumbledore didn't seem to be doing anything, Luna pulled out her wand. "I need some type of proof for this. I don't want to harm you, but what I am doing is very important and I will use any means necessary to accomplish it. And before you start getting all prideful and thinking that a kid like me could not possibly do anything to you, remember the fact that I got through all your wards on this room. I know magic that you have never dreamed of." Dumbledore looked steadily at her for a few more seconds, then sighed in defeat and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote quickly and quietly, dribbled wax at the bottom, stamped it, rolled the parchment up, tapped it so that it sealed perfectly, and handed it to her. She smiled at him, and then time froze and the blackness returned.

Dumbledore, of course, gave a little start at the sudden and soundless disappearance, then shook his head, muttered to himself, and started scribbling out a message to the Minister of Magic. He'd have to warn the teachers. Whatever the strange girl was here for, it was bound to be an interesting year.

~o~Fixing Time~o~

When the light began gathering once more, Luna was surprised to notice that she was appearing at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, instead of Diagon Alley like she had expected. This surprise was increased when she looked down at her feet and noticed something that wasn't out of focus at all and really had no place in this time. She tilted her head, then squatted down and opened the trunk that looked exactly like the one she had originally taken to Hogwarts. Sure enough, everything inside the trunk was something that she owned in her own time, even the pure black school cloaks.

_I suppose this potion is able to pull other things out of time if I have need of them. _She had no real clue as to how a potion would be able to affect something that didn't even touch it, but it was the only thing that made sense. It also explained why she was in her seventeen year old body, instead of her twenty-two year old one.

"Um, hello? Are you ok?" The female voice jerked Luna out of her thoughts. She tilted her head up to see who had spoken, and met very familiar emerald green eyes. She paused for a second, and then her gaze zoomed out to include the entire face and she nearly fell laughing. The girl's face changed from worried to confused quickly, and she started to take a step back before Luna waved at her to stay.

"I'm sorry, it's just that your eyes reminded me so much of someone's that I know that for a moment I thought you were him, even though I knew from your voice you were a girl. Then I pictured him with your voice and it cracked me up." Luna explained as she quickly closed her truck and stood up. The redhead quirked an eyebrow and looked at her funny, but Luna just smiled and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Lily Evans." The other girl replied, taking Luna's hand and shaking it. "So, did you have a problem, or something?"

"No, not really. Just checking to make sure I have everything." Lily tilted her head, a small grin appearing on her face.

"A bit late for that, isn't it?"

"Well, I suppose." Luna laughed. "Still, I'm a bit nervous, this is my first day and all, and since I'm just coming for my seventh year and not going through the process normally..."

"Wait, what!?" Lily exclaimed, jumping a little from surprise. "Is that possible?"

"Apparently so." Luna replied, digging into her pocket. "This is a letter that the headmaster wrote for me, explaining everything. You may read it, if you like." Lily looked at the proffered scroll and shook her head.

"I think I'll take your word for it." Luna shrugged and returned the scroll to her pocket. "So how are they deciding which house you'll be in? Are they making you go up during the sorting with the first years?"

"No, thank goodness." Luna replied, shuddering at the very thought. "I'd stick out like a very sore thumb. No, it's already been decided that I'll be in Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor, eh?" Lily grinned and wrapped her arm around Luna's shoulders. "That's the house I'm in! I knew there was something I liked about you. Come on, I'll introduce you to some of your soon to be roommates!" Luna nodded and allowed Lily to guide her down the platform, making sure to grab her trunk as they left.

They didn't get very far down the platform before they were ambushed by a group of four boys. Lily had been in the middle of speaking about the teachers and how they reacted to different types of behavior when a black-haired blur charged in from the side and stopped right in front of her. Lily groaned, muttered something along the lines of "after Black always comes Potter," then crossed her arms and glared daggers at the young man before her. Sirius, being Sirius, merely grinned in the face of fiery-haired wrath, before suddenly reaching out and giving her a light push, just enough for her to stumble backwards...right into the arms of one James Potter.

"Get off me!" she snarled immediately, whirling around and pushing James away. Ignoring his indignant "Hey!", she glared fiercely at the two of them, hands balled into fists, but before she could open her mouth to berate them she got cut off by a voice from behind her.

"Trying to catch them on fire with your eyes, are we?" Lily turned slowly to face Lupin, a feeling of dread forming in the pit of her stomach. If _he _was joining in on it, she had very little chance of getting away with just reprimanding the other two knuckle heads and hurrying off. To make matters worse, Peter appeared at that moment and, with his typical ability to scan an entire scene for possible mischief making opportunities, noticed Luna standing off to the side staring at James.

"Hey, who's the new girl?" Luna jolted out of her revere as everyone turned towards her. A small blush appeared on her face, but disappeared fast when she noticed Lily close her eyes and mutter a silent prayer, Sirius and James get predatory grins, and Remus cock his head to the side with a small smile, as though he knew what was about to happen and was planning on fully enjoying it. Which, to be fair, he probably did.

Sirius acted first. Slipping around Lily, he walked right up to Luna and looped an arm around her shoulders. "What's a pretty lady like you doing wandering around by yourself?"

Poor Luna looked like a deer in headlights as she tried to answer the question, but all she was able to get out was "I-I'm n-not-" before James came up on the other side. This time the arm was looped around her waist.

"Obviously she's lost, Padfoot." he said sagely, nodding his head in sympathy. "She needs some mature male guidance to understand how to find her way."

"Well, if you happen to find any, we would love to know." Lily said sarcastically, but everyone merely ignored her.

"Then she's lucky that we found her!" Sirius declared, pumping his free arm with a determined look upon his face. "We'll take good care of her, and make sure that she has everything she needs! Right, Prongs?"

"Too true, Padfoot, too true." James responded. Sweeping his arm out in front of him as though to gesture to a boundless horizon, he continued. "With two fine gentlemen like us to guide her, she'll-"

"Become immensely corrupted and get dragged down into that horrendous pit that we have taken to calling 'Marauder Sanity'." Everyone turned to face the newcomer. Lily sighed in relief when she recognized who it was, while the boys sighed in defeat. Luna just stood there quivering with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Alice, thank goodness! Somebody came to save us after all!"

"Well, we had agreed to meet at the end like ten minutes ago. Since it's not like you to be late, I figured something must have waylaid you. And you being you, it almost had to be the Marauders." Alice smiled first at Lily, then grinned at the Marauders when she saw the almost offended looks on their faces.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius let out indignantly. Alice just laughed, before shaking her head and walking up to the three who were still linked by the boys' arms.

"You mind letting go?" she asked, gesturing at their arms. "I think you've traumatized the poor girl enough for one day." Grumbling, the two boys removed their arms and backed away. Alice waved her hand in front of Luna's face, causing her eyes to blink and slide back into focus. Alice smiled sweetly at the girl, before stepping back. "Don't mind the idiots," she said, waving a hand at the four boys. "They mean well, they just get a little carried away at times." Alice shot Lily a grin when she heard the red-head snort at the comment, before returning her eyes to Luna and offering her hand. "I'm Alice, by the way. Alice Stiles."

"Luna Lovegood."

"Well, now that you met, we really should return to the others." Lily said, joining the two and ushering them on towards the back of the train, glad for a good excuse to get away from the Marauders.

Luna smiled softly to herself. Whatever else happened, she was sure that it would at least be an interesting year.

~o~Fixing Time~o~

The ride to Hogwarts was mostly uneventful. Luna was introduced to the rest of the girls that would be in her dorm, Mary Natasha Margaret Smith, Suzann Meredeth Indigo Luise Emerson, and Ingrid Nora Kepplinger. They were nice girls, and before they arrived Luna felt as if she knew as much about them as if they had actually been at Hogwarts together for all seven years. Most of the ride was spent merely chatting about whatever was on their minds. It was a refreshing experience for Luna, who had never been able to have a normal train ride during her original years at Hogwarts.

As they approached the school, the girls changed into their school robes, then spent the last little bit helping each other apply make up and paint their nails, enjoying the fresh breeze coming from the open window and laughing at the goofy designs they put on each other. The experience was a new one for Luna, who had never really paid any attention to her looks before, and had never had any close girl friends to enjoy the experience with before anyway.

For the first time since she first came to the castle, Luna found herself disappointed at having to attend the Start of Term Feast, so great was the time that she had been having. She kept this to herself, though, and was still able to have an enjoyable experience.

After the feast, Luna followed her new friends up to the Gryffindor common room. It was quite a bit different from the Ravenclaw common room, from how they entered to how the room was furnished, and Luna decided immediately that she preferred the one she was in now. It felt more homey than the more intellectual one had, and Luna felt an immediate sense of belonging.

Though she was exhausted enough to go up to her dorm and try to sleep immediately, Luna found that sleep eluded her. Long after the others had dropped off into the blissful expanse of their dreams, she was stuck in the woeful cage of her mind, still trying to comprehend everything that had happened in the short time frame of a single day. Eventually, tired of not being able to sleep, she slipped out of bed, crept across the room, and padded softly down into the now empty common room. Whenever sleep had eluded her when she was in Ravenclaw, Luna would go into the common room, pick a random book from the shelves, and read it until she was able to sleep. However, as there was a lack of books here, that option was unavailable, and so she settled for doing a little wandering and getting a better look at the room. It wasn't long before she heard some soft music drifting into the room, and was shocked when she realized that it was coming from the hallway. She hesitated, then gathered her courage, nudged the portrait open, and crawled through. Following her ears, she soon located a nearby landing a little higher on the staircase, one that had a balcony leading to the outside of the tower. She wandered up, careful to keep quiet, until she could see what was causing the music.

Sirius Black was sitting on the railing with one leg dangling over the side, a black flute raised to his lips. He was swaying slightly as he played a peaceful melody, and Luna realized that she was swaying to it as well. She felt a smile fall on her face as she continued up the stairs and onto the landing.

As she walked out onto the balcony, Sirius lowered the flute and turned to face her, a small grin on his face. "Seems I'm no longer the only one who has trouble sleeping."

"I suppose not." Luna replied, as she walked over and leaned on the railing. "You seemed very unconcerned with someone coming up behind you. What if I had been a teacher?"

Sirius chuckled. "By that point, there would really be no way to get out of it, so trying would be pointless. Besides, I've found that they rarely patrol this close to the common room."

"Oh really? How often do you come out here, then?"

"Whenever I can't sleep." Sirius grinned when Luna raised an eyebrow, but the only elaboration he would give was, "You'll just have to come out and see."

Luna shrugged, then turned her face to the sky. It was a beautiful night, with the half moon shining bright and the stars twinkling merrily in their constellations. They stayed like that for several moments, enjoying the peace, before Sirius stirred once again.

"I hope we didn't really scare you that badly, earlier. It wasn't our intention. We were just trying to have a bit of fun, but, as Alice said, sometimes we get a bit carried away."

Luna turned to him and smiled. "I figured. I was mostly just confused on what I should do. I've never had any boys treat me like that before."

"Really?" Sirius asked incredulously. "That's hard to imagine. I wasn't joking when I called you good looking. I would have thought there would be boys who tried to hit on you before."

Luna's smile brightened at the compliment. "Thanks, but I know I'm not really that great on the eyes. Besides, I've been known to be a bit of an oddball, so that probably put off what guys might have wanted to try."

Sirius sighed at her comment about her looks, but decided to let it drop. "You don't seem like that much of an oddball to me."

Luna laughed, her voice ringing softly on the night air. "You haven't gotten to really know me yet, Mr. Black. I've got a few quirks about me."

"All the better." Sirius grinned, a twinkle in his eye when it met Luna's interested look. "I find that those who have quirks, and willingly take full possession of them, are some of the funnest to be around. Most people are boring, and that's mostly because they try to hide who they really are in order to become 'cool'. The need for acceptance kills off all individuality, makes them a clone of the person next to them." His face and look took on a more solemn tone. "I've had enough of that with my family. They wanted mindless followers, keeping with the old traditions instead of trying to make them better. So I try to surround myself with those who can think for themselves, make something for themselves." He shrugged, a thoughtful look coming over his face, which disappeared when Luna flicked him.

"You seem too much like a happy go lucky person for such depressing thoughts." She responded to his questioning look. "You should think of something happier. Like that start of term prank that you and your friends are undoubtedly planning, if my sources are accurate."

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are you actually _encouraging_ us to play a prank?"

"Hmmm..." Lune replied, tapping her chin in mock thought. "I suppose I am. Does that really surprise you so much?"

"Well, you did seem to become fast friends with Lily, and she is quite the stickler on pranks..."

"The others don't seem that uptight."

Sirius laughed. "They're not. Even so, they've never encouraged us either."

Luna smirked. "I wonder if I could change that. What would you say if I could convince at least some of the girls into a prank war?"

Sirius looked at her as though she was crazy. "You honestly think you could do that?"

"I think so. Indigo, at least, seemed like she might get a kick out of it, and Mary didn't seem that far behind her. Might even be able to get Alice and Nora on board, though I dare say Lily is a lost cause. So what do you say? If I can get them to agree too it, do you think the other Marauders would?"

Sirius grinned. "If I know those three at all, and I'm pretty sure I do, then they will probably be ecstatic."

"All right then." Luna said, offering her hand out. Sirius took it, and the two shook. "A prank war it is. Just make sure not to take things too overboard."

"No promises." Sirius responded with a wide grin. He then turned and started walking down the stairs. "I daresay I'm ready for bed now. Coming?"

Luna leaned back against the railing and once more turned her face to the sky. "I think I'll stay out here for a little while longer."

**A/N: And thus, this chapter comes to a close. This chapter was fun to write. I got a real kick out of the character interactions, especially since i didn't really have any specific plan for most of it. it just kinda happened. well, please leave a review!**


End file.
